Map of the Roman Empire - Messembria

Messembria
N-4 on the Map

Ancient Messembria was an important Greek city in Thrace, located along the coast of the Black Sea and at the foot of Mt. Haemus. Messembria came under Roman rule in 71 B.C.

Messembria A celebrated town of Thrace on the Pontus Euxinus, and at the foot of Mount Haemus, founded by the inhabitants of Chalcedon and Byzantium in the time of Darius Hystaspis, and hence called a colony of Megara, since those two towns were founded by the Megarians. - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.

Messembria Originally a Thracian settlement known as Menebria, the town became a Greek colony when settled by Dorians from Megara at the beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading centre from then on and a rival of Apollonia (Sozopol). It remained the only Doric colony along the Black Sea coast, as the rest were typical Ionic colonies. Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, and an agora. A wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th century BC and gold coins since the 3rd century BC. The town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage. It was one of the most important strongholds of the Byzantine Empire from the 5th century AD onwards - Wikipedia

Messembria MESE�MBRIA An important Greek city in Thrace, situated on the coast of the Euxine and at the foot of Mt. Haemus (Scymn. Ch. 738); consequently upon the confines of Moesia, in which it is placed by Ptolemy (3.10.8). Strabo (vii. p.319) relates that it was a colony of the Megarians, and that it was originally called Menebria (?e?e�??a) after its founder Menas ; Stephanus B. (s. v.) says that its original name was Melsembria (?e?s?��??a), from its founder Melsas; and both writers state that the termination -bria was the Thracian word for town. According to the Anonymous Periplus of the Euxine (p. 14) Mesembria was founded by Chalcedonians at the time of the expedition of Darius against Scythia; but according to Herodotus (6.33) it was founded a little later, after the suppression of the Ionic revolt, by Byzantine and Chalcedonian fugitives. These statements may, however, be reconciled by supposing that the Thracian. town was originally colonized by Megarians, and afterwards received additional colonists from Byzantiurn and Chalcedon. Mesembria was one of the cities, forming the Greek Pentapolis on the Euxine, the other four being Odessus, Tomi, Istriani and Apolloniatae. (See B�ckh, Inscr. vol. ii. p. 996.) Mesembria is rarely mentioned in history, but it continued to exist till a late period. (Mela, 2.2; Plin. Nat. 4.11. s. 18 ; Ptol. l. c.; Tab. Peut.) - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.